Storm window washing device



Aug. 24, 1965 P. c. BRYCE 3,201,816

STORM WINDOW WASHING DEVICE Filed Nov. 21, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 24, 1965 P. c. BRYCE STORM WINDOW WASHING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 21, 1963 I N,V ENTOR.

United States Patent 3,201,816 STORM WINDGW WASHING DEVICE Peter C. Bryce, 575 Lees Lane, Oakville, Ontario, Canada Filed Nov. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 325,234 4 Ciairns. (Cl. 15-223) This invention relates to improvements in window cleaning devices and more particularly, to improvements in devices for washing storm windows.

The conventional window cleaning devices usually consist of a brush member or sponge, to be utilized in the actual removal of dust and grime from the window surfaces, and a drying member, usually a squeegee type rubber strip. More complex machines have been devised to incorporate rotating brushes and to supply the brushes with a flow of cleaning liquid, usually water.

None of these devices, however, are able to be utilized satisfactorily in the washing of the inner surfaces of the glass panes of storm windows wherein such panes are held spaced apart in parallel plane. In many instances the components of the storm window cannot easily be disassembled for cleaning and in inclement weather, of course, it is highly inadvisable to disassemble the windows for cleaning or the like, even if this were otherwise possible, while at the same time it is under these circumstances that the cleaning is most needed.

The main object of my invention is, therefore, to provide a storm window washing device, to be hereinafter called a window washer, which is specifically adapted for washing the inner surfaces of the glass panes of storm windows without requiring that the windows be disassembled.

Another object of my invention is to provide a window washer which allows various types of cleaning materials to be inserted thereon, to consecutively soak, remove grime and thereafter polish the glass surfaces and which may, of course, also be used to clean the more accessible outer surfaces of the glass panes.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a window washer which cleans both the inner surfaces of the storm window simultaneously.

A further object of my invention is to provide a window Washer in which the pressure exerted on the inner glass surfaces by the cleaning media may be adjusted according to necessity and individual preference.

Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a window washer which permits the various cleaning materials to be interchanged both quickly and easily.

Still another important object of my invention is to provide a window washer which may be cheaply and easily manufactured and which may be made readily available to the general public.

These and other objects and features of my invention will become apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the support framework of a window washer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the yoke portion of my invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sleeve support member of the invention, showing a sleeve assembly installed thereon in phantom.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tubular member forming part of the sleeve assembly.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the sleeves of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of my invention in use in a storm window.

FIG. 7 is a sectional side elevation of my invention taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6.

32% 1,8 l 6 Patented Aug. 24, 1965 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, a support framework 10 comprises two longitudinal members 11 and 12 held in parallel spaced apart relation by a pair of upper transverse bars 13 and 14 and a similar pair of lower transverse bars 15 and 16. Each pair of said transverse bars are located on opposite sides of members 11 and 12 so that a gap 17 exists between upper bars 13 and 14 and a gap 18 between lower bars 15 and 16.

An annular finger grip 19 eXtends outwardly from the lowermost end 11a of member 11 while a similar grip 20 extends outwardly past the lowermost end 12a of member 12.

The upper ends 1112 and 12b of members 11 and 12 respectively each support an upwardly and outwardly extending shoulder member 21 and 22 respectively. From the outermost end 21a of shoulder 21 a vertical side member 23 extends which, in time, supports a transverse beam 24 adapted to extend across the complete width of shoulders 21 and 22 so that its outermost end 24a lies vertically above the outermost end 22a of shoulder 22.

A swinging arm 25 hingedly attached at its lower end 25a to outer end 22:: of shoulder 22 and a knurled nut 26 threadedly attached to the opposite end 25b is adapted to permit manual attachment of end 25b of arm 25 to end 24a of beam 24. End 24a of beam 24 is suitably slotted to house end 25b of arm 25 upon arm 25 being moved to the vertical position.

An indexing plate 27 is attached to lower transverse bar 15 and extends vertically upwardly therefrom substantially coplanar with members '11 and 12. A plurality of spaced apart transverse slots 28 are formed through plate 27.

In a preferred embodiment, the material forming framework 10, such as, for instance, spring steel, is then, rigid under compression or tension and flexible under bending stress.

Referring to FIG. 2, the yoke portion 31 of my device comprises a thin flexible strip of material such as, for instance, spring steel to form a long handle 32, the lower end 32a of which supports a hand grip 33.

The upper end 3% of handle 32 supports a cross beam 34 equally about its centre in a T configuration, the upper surface 35 of beam 34 being flattened in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of handle 32.

A leaf spring 36 is attached at its upper end 36a to handle 32 on one side thereof, its lower end 36b being freely extendable outwardly from handle 32.

Referring to FIG. 3, a sleeve support member 40 comprises two identical transverse rods 41 and 42, each having inturning ends 41a, 41b, 42a and 4212 respectively. A pair of coil springs 43 and 44 interconnect ends 41a and 42a and ends 41b and 42b respectively and thereby hold rods 41 and 42 in substantially parallel, spaced apart relation.

Referring also to FIG. 4, an open ended tubular member 45 of resilient material such as, for instance, sheet rubber is adapted to slidably receive support member 46 and the extension of springs 43 and 44 such that, upon assembly, member 45 is deformed into an ellipsoidal configuration. Two diametrically opposed strips 45 and 47 of soft resilient material such as sponge rubber are attached to tubular member 45 and run the full length thereof. Upon tubular member 4-5 being assembled to support member 40 as described, strips 46 and 47 are located substantially midway between rods 4-1 and 42.

It is contemplated that support member 40 and tubular member 45 will remain as a basic assembly and that a number of outer sleeves 48 as shown in FIG. 5 will be provided for selective assembly to tubular member 45, the nature of the operation to a large extent determines the material of the sleeve 48.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the components heretofore described are illustrated assembled and in use. It will be noted that handle 32 of yoke 31 is a close sliding fit between longitudinal members 11 and 12 of framework and is retained therebetween by upper and lower transverse bars 13, 14, 15 and 16 respectively, passing freely through the gaps 17 and 18 as described.

Cross beam 34 of yoke 31 extends transversely between side member 23 and swinging arm 25 of framework 10 upon the latter being attached to bar 24 and is adapted to be freely moveable unidirectionally in the plane of framework 10. It would be noted that, upon the assembly of yoke 31 to framework 10, the free end 36b of spring 36 is adapted to register with index plate 27, and 36b being out-turned to selectively register with any desired slot 28 and thereafter hold yoke 31 in a predetermined fixed relation within framework 10.

Sleeve support member 40, together with tubular member 45 and any selected outer sleeve 48, is assembled to framework 10, swinging arm 25 being lowered to permit them to be placed between the fiat lower surface of transverse beam 24 of framework 10 and upper surface 35 of cross beam 34 of yoke 31. It should be noted that, upon assembly, sleeve support member is coplanar with support framework 10 and that the inner surfaces of side member 23 and swinging arm 25 are deeply recessed to accommodate ends 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b of transverse rods 41 and 42 respectively and their respective springs 43 and 44. Tubular member 45 and sleeve 48 are, of course, sufficiently short to allow the above identified rod ends and springs to be fully exposed and enterable in the said recesses.

In use it is contemplated that the initial cleaning will be done by the sponge strips 46 and 47 and this is accomplished by inserting the window washer assembly as described and indicated by arrow 50 between the two panes 51 and 52 of a storm window. It should be noted that the end 36b of spring 36 and yoke 31 is registered with the lowermost slot 28 of indexing plate 27 on framework 10 during insertion of assembly 50 between passes 51 and 52, thereby permitting tubular member 45 to become flattened sufficiently and offer little or no resistance during this portion of the operation. Upon being suitably positioned, yoke 31 may be moved upwardly by disengaging spring 36 from indexing plate 27, gripping support framework 10 by inserting the fingers in grips 19 and 20 and pushing up a handle 32. This, of course, causes cross beam 34 of yoke 31 to move closer to transverse beam 24 of framework 10, compressing springs 43 and 44 of sleeve support member 40 and deforming tubular member 45.

Due to the semi-rigid resilient nature of the material forming member 45 it resists collapse but is squeezed sufficiently to cause it to exert a pressure, through sponge stops 46 and 47 on the inner surfaces of panes 51 and 52 and it will be obvious that the amount of side pres sure is selected by causing the end 36b of spring 36 to enter any predetermined slot 28 in indexing plate 27.

Thus, sponge strips 46 and 47 having been moistened by any suitable cleaning fluid, assembly 50 may be moved over the inner surfaces of panes 51 and 52, the flexibility of handle 32 being such that it may be curved under the edges of pane 51 or 52, while still being rigid in compression or tension to effect the desired movement of assembly 50 between panes 51 and 52.

After the initial cleaning by sponge strips 46 and 47, pressure on tubular member 45 may be relieved by release of spring 36 and assembly 50 may be removed from the window and disassembled, and an outer sleeve 48 required of it, for example, a cloth material for drying or chamois for polishing.

The sleeve support member 40 hearing both tubular member 45 and outer sleeve 48 is reassembled to framework 10 and the process as described above repeated until the window is cleaned satisfactorily.

The general design of the individual parts of the invention as explained above may be varied according to requirements in regards to manufacture and production thereof, while still remaining within the spirit and principle of the invention as set forth in the claims, without prejudicing the novelty thereof.

The embodiments of this invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A storm window washing device including a support framework, a yoke cooperable with said framework; a resilient, deformable member compressible between said yoke and said framework; cleaning means supported by said deformable member; unidirectionally bendable flexible handle means having rigidity in compression and tension attached to-.said yoke, said deformable member including a resilient tubular member and a sleeve support member; said sleeve support member comprising two substantially identical rods each having inturned ends; coil springs interconnecting said ends in pairs to hold said rods in substantially parallel spaced apart relationship; said tubular member within said support framework to be compressible between said framework and said yoke.

2. A storm window washing device as defined in claim 1, including a manually selectable indexing means interconnecting said framework and said yoke; said indexing means comprising a multi-slotted plate and a flat spring;

placed over tubular member 45. The type of material joining sleeve 48 is determined by the type of operation said fiat spring having a free end selectably registerable with any one of said slots.

3. A storm window washing device including a support framework, a yoke cooperable with said framework; a

resilient, deformable member compressible between said yoke and said framework; cleaning means supported by said deformable member; unidirectionally bendable flexible handle means having rigidity in compression and tension attached to said yoke, said deformable member including a resilient tubular member, an outer sleeve and a sleeve support member; said sleeve support member comprising two substantially identical rods each having inturned ends; coil springs interconnecting said ends in pairs to hold said rods in substantially parallel spaced apart relationship; said tubular member being slidable over said support member and said outer sleeve being slidable over said tubular member; and means retaining said support member, said tubular member and said outer sleeve within said support framework to be compressible in their axial plane between said framework and said yoke.

4. A storm window washing device as defined in claim 3, including a manually selectable indexing means interconnecting said framework and said yoke; said indexing means comprising a multi-slotted plate and a flat spring; said fiat spring having a free end selectably registerable with any one of said slots.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 615,410 12/98 Parks 15151 1,038,090 9/12 Condon 15151 2,065,407 12/36 Steuernagel 15---151 2,357,446 9/44 Bendar 15244.4 2,537,482 1/51 Reilly 15244 X 2,743,471 5/56 Forrester 15152 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner, 

1. A STORM WINDOW WASHING DEVICE INCLUDING A SUPPORT FRAMEWORK, A YOKE COOPERABLE WITH SAID FRAMEWORK; A RESILIENT, DEFORMABLE MEMBER COMPRESSIBLE BETWEEN SAID YOKE AND SAID FRAMEWORK; CLEANING MEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID DEFORMABLE MEMBER; UNDIRECTIONALLY BENDABLE FLEXIBLE HANDLE MEANS HAVING RIGIDITY IN COMPRESSION AND TENSION ATTACHED TO SAID YOKE, SAID DEFORMABLE MEMBER INCLUDING A RESILIENT TUBULAR MEMBER AND A SLEEVE SUPPORT MEMBER; SAID SLEEVE SUPPORT MEMBER COMPRISING TWO SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL RODS EACH HAVING INTURNED ENDS; COIL SPRINGS INTERCONNECTING SAID ENDS IN PAIRS TO HOLD SAID RODS IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SPACED APART RELATIONSHIP; SAID TUBULAR MEMBER WITHIN SAID SUPPORT FRAMEWORK TO BE COMPRESSIBLE BETWEEN SAID FRAMEWORK AND SAID YOKE. 